Thanks for highlighting the pernicious effects of the indefinite detention amendment to the recently signed NDAA. The article that you linked to is a good basic explanation of many of the problems with the authorization of such Presidential powers.

The major damage was in actually codifying powers that had been assumed and misused by the Bush administration after September 11th. Now that they are defined by law it will be much more difficult to address violations of civil rights in the courts. Especially with the consent of both houses of Congress.

As a member of Grannies for Peace I had to laugh at the idea that we might be first in line for such persecution (oops, sorry prosecution).

When I shared your comment about the Grannies at a recent meeting of the Women Against War Iran Project someone pointed out that many Grannies are engaged in criticisms of current US domestic and foreign policy and are working to change it in diverse ways. It’s for those activities that we might be most likely to be in danger if the diminution of space for dissent and free speech continues.

Thanks for the information and for the nod to the Grannies as well.

]]>By: Ed Gilberthttp://blog.timesunion.com/trumbore/happy-sad-new-year/983/#comment-1859
Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:21:07 +0000http://blog.timesunion.com/trumbore/?p=983#comment-1859I think the 5th amendment is going to cause problems for those in favor of this provision. I doubt it will survive judicial scrutiny.
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